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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Cynosure in Focus

Often as a mom, I feel like my brain exists in a state of mush. I attempt to learn a few new tricks every now and then to help me retain my “sharp as a marble” status. I signed up at dictionary.com to receive a “word of the day” each morning in my email. Today, I learned about the word cynosure. Cynosure (pronounced SY-nuh-shoor) is an object that serves as a focal point of attention and admiration or something which serves to guide or direct. I seem to remember reading something relating to the North Star as well, but my mushy brain had reached capacity and I’ve lost that part.

As I began to think of that word, my head began to droop a bit, and my heart wilted a smidgen as well. Obviously the cynosure of our lives should be God our Father. Much easier on paper than in real life! You see, I’ve had my eye on a new camera—actually I’ve had my eye on my old, beat up, marker stained, slow battery, not enough settings camera.

Every time we venture up "on the hill" where we do most of our shopping, I want to “swing in” to Best Buy to visit the shiny, compact, multi-function, high performing cameras that are on my “short list”. (Did you know that there are cameras that wait for everyone to smile and wait for everyone to have their eyes open before snapping the picture? Surely a need for a gal trying to photograph four smiles and eight bright eyes in a single shot!) I look up user reviews on line for various models of cameras in my price range. On reserve at the library are no fewer than 8 books on the topic of digital photography in my name.

This camera thing has kinda become my cynosure. Remember the definition? An object that serves as a focal point of attention and admiration or something which serves to guide or direct. Kelly Minter in her book No Other Gods further defines my problem saying that, whatever steals my heart’s affection from God, and whatever inordinately motivates me is an idol in my life. Am I being too hard on myself over a teeny weeny (another desired feature) camera? John Calvin answers, "The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much." I can’t believe I’ve been so overcome by a gadget these past few weeks.

A camera hasn’t provided salvation for my soul, food for my family, or health for my bones. A camera hasn’t provided a way for me to converse with my Heavenly Father about the cares in my mind. I’ll not be teaching the children about the merits of the fancy flash settings, or the smile finding features of a camera each night at bedtime.

I’ll be reminding them that Our Heavenly Father is the focal point of our attention and admiration. It is HE Who guides us and directs us, HE who loves us and desires nothing more than to be in a relationship with us. A relationship that focuses on all of His blessings and for which He has created us. A relationship with Him in the center of the frame. Hebrews 12:2 reminds me to "...fix [my] eyes on Jesus, the Author and Pefecter of [my] faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Can’t you just picture it?

Gotta run. I’ve got 2 or 3 books about IPods to return to the library, seems as if that gadget has stolen a bit of my focus as well!